VAN NUYS : Ex-Manager Involved in Apartment Rift

When new management took over at the Sepulveda Garden apartment building and the manager there was fired, Paul Gonzalez was among the residents who signed a petition protesting the change.

“I went along with the crowd,” said Gonzalez, referring to the petition that expressed “lack of confidence in the competence and integrity” in a company that took over at the 83-unit property in February because of a bank foreclosure.

But after giving the new company, Koll Property Management, a chance, Gonzalez and at least one other resident who signed the petition say that now they feel differently, despite the fact that former manager Charles Erdell has vowed to continue fighting the loss of his job and subsequent eviction.

“I see this as an employer-employee problem, not a management-tenant problem,” said Beverly Lange of the situation at the Sepulveda Boulevard complex. Lange said she was one of the first to sign the petition when it was circulated by neighbors.

But Erdell, manager at the apartments for more than 10 years until being fired last month, sees the issue differently. Erdell said that some of Koll’s actions, including his dismissal and the taking down of Neighborhood Watch stickers on the property, show “indifference” to the tough realities of living in the crime-ridden neighborhood.

When Erdell, a Neighborhood Watch block captain, was fired on May 22, he said he was given a choice: either vacate in five days or start paying rent. Declining both options, he decided to go on “strike”--to remain in his apartment without paying rent and fight the eviction through legal means if necessary.

Neighbors then circulated the petition--signed by 60 residents--supporting Erdell. The occupants of at least one other apartment also went on strike, hanging a banner announcing their protest from a balcony. Other residents said they signed the petition because they were worried about potential changes in rental policy, such as penalties for paying rent late.

Though some residents and former residents said they are still upset about Erdell’s removal, others said their fears about the new management have not been realized.

In fact, some residents said, since Debra Bruce took over as manager about three weeks ago, requests for repairs have been handled relatively quickly and Koll has made some improvements, including pruning trees and cleaning up the pool.

Koll has declined to comment on the dispute.

Formerly managed by Transpacific Management Co., the property went into foreclosure because “operation expenditures were more than the rental income,” said Chung Tan, an employee of Alhambra-based Transpacific.

The property is now in receivership and is being managed by Koll at the request of the bank that holds the mortgage, Tan said.

Tan added that Transpacific may decide to bring the building out of receivership if a lender offered “good terms.”